System for solar thermal collector based heating for livestock structures

ABSTRACT

A system and method for controlling the environment of a broiler poultry structure interior utilizing a transpired solar collector and controllable vents, fans and sensors. In an embodiment, the average or instant incident angle of the transpired collector is adjustable by either the manufacturer prior to installation, the installer, or a solar panel controller. In an embodiment of the system the Environmental Optimization System (“EOS”) provides a system for the intelligent control and monitoring the broiler poultry livestock structure environment through the utilization of a variety of environmental and livestock behavior sensors, apparatus for controlling the thermal collection and existing interior heating/air conditioning/ventilation (“HVAC”) systems, and Internet or cloud based intelligent control and monitoring capabilities of the system. In various embodiments central sensor data aggregation is utilized to provide improved optimization control for individual structures based on data from multiple structures.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/831,105 filed on Dec. 4, 2017, which was a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/599,163 filed on Jan. 16, 2015 and claimsthe benefit of that application as well as U.S. provisional application61/927,991 filed on Jan. 16, 2014. All of the above named applicationsare incorporated herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of environmentalcontrol.

BACKGROUND

Animals and plants can tolerate only a limited range of environmentalconditions. Depending on the species, the ideal range of environmentalconditions may be very narrow, particularly during early development.Certain livestock, such as poultry, are commonly housed in a structurewith controlled conditions in order to provide the optimal environmentfor productive and healthy growth. A critical factor for determining theproductivity for poultry houses is known as the speed to weight factor,or the time it takes for the poultry to reach the target weight.

Controlling body temperature, or thermoregulation, varies considerablybetween species of animals, sometimes identified as “warm-blooded”.Young poultry, or chicks for example, have very limited ability tocontrol their own body temperature during the first weeks of developmentafter hatching. To mitigate this problem, when poultry chicks are raisedafter hatching, the chicks are commonly housed in large structures withventilation and heating apparatus which is designed to keep the interiorat or near 90° F. and to minimize interior humidity. The youngest chicksare sometimes raised in groups, or broods, confined to circular areas inthe house known as brooding rings, underneath radiant heat sources knownas radiant brooders or pancake brooders.

Environmental humidity has several deleterious effects on thedevelopment and health of the chicks in poultry houses. When relativehumidity increases, the evaporative capacity of the air decreases. Aschicks get older, they are able to lower their body temperature byevaporative heat loss from their lungs. If the chicks overheat, theybegin to pant to reduce their core body temperature if unable to do so,they expire from heat stress. Similarly, the floor of the poultry house,or litter, becomes soaked in detritus, including bird waste, which ifnot allowed to dry by evaporation also negatively affects poultryhealth. Bacterial growth in the wet litter is known to be the mostcommon source of ammonia gas in poultry houses.

Ammonia gas in a poultry house has been demonstrated to negativelyaffect chick health and growth. Ventilation of the structure is thecommon means to reduce ammonia, but this also decreases temperature,which is problematic during cooler months and necessitates frequent useof heating sources and associated costly energy resources. Venting withfresh air is commonly accomplished at fixed intervals for a structureand supplemental heat is provided to account for the infusion of coldair. This process can cause unwanted fluctuations in temperature in theinterior of the structure and does not provide any dynamic ability tocontrol interior ammonia.

In the United States, poultry livestock are primarily farmed in thesoutheastern states, from eastern Texas to North Carolina. Farming isyear round in all locations. Widely varying local weather is commonthroughout the southeast United States sudden changes in weather arecommon in the spring and fall. This further complicates environmentalcontrol of the poultry houses. As mentioned above, during winter months,cold air vented into houses often requires considerable increase in theinterior heating for houses with associated fuel costs.

Modern poultry house ventilation systems typically use very large“tunnel fans” which are extremely noisy, causing additional stress andnegative health impact on the chicks growing in the poultry house.

Heat, relative humidity, ammonia and noise are several of the factorsthat can negatively impact both the health and market worthiness of thepoultry, as well as the speed to weight for the poultry, or productivityof the house.

Due to the complexity of controlling numerous inputs and monitoring ofpotentially numerous conditions of poultry house environments,historically the conditions have been controlled manually by the poultryfarmer, with warning indicators of extreme conditions. Computerized orautomatic control systems have been used with varying degrees of successfor several years. Yet numerous unsolved problems remain, including thereduction of energy use for heating and more reliable and effective waysof maintaining a balance of various environmental factors to optimizethe conditions for the livestock within the housing structure.

SUMMARY

Various aspects of the system and method disclosed herein, coined theEnvironmental Optimization System (“EOS”), address the problems ofclosed livestock structure environmental control and monitoring. Amongthese are the integration of an automatic dynamically controlled solarthermal collection device, dynamic control of the fan speed ventingcollected hot air from the collector into the house, dynamic control forventilation of the structure, integration of the solar collector controlwith the house HVAC system. In addition, aggregated collection of sensoroutput from one or more livestock houses and housing locations into acloud based data server system, cloud based real-time monitoring ofsensor systems, livestock behavior sensors as input to the controlsystem and predictive control of the environmental apparatus. Thebenefits of the disclosed system include the dynamic ability to adjusthouse ventilation while maintaining optimal temperature in the houseobtaining ideal ammonia levels—which directly impacts the speed toweight factor measure of house productivity.

Various embodiments for the EOS system include a variety of sensorsystems, which depend on the needs of a particular installation. Sensorsystems may include exterior ambient temperature sensors, structureinterior temperature sensors, thermal collection space temperaturesensors, ventilation inlet and outlet temperature sensors, ammoniaconcentration sensors, CO₂ concentration sensors, relative humiditysensors, ultrasonic and infrared motion sensors, sound level sensors,microphones, video cameras, thermal imaging cameras and sunlightsensors.

In certain embodiments, solar thermal collection panels affixed toeither the roofs or sun facing exterior walls of the livestockstructures collect thermal energy in enclosed exterior spaces abuttingthe structure. The panel enclosures are controlled by the EOS system toeither vent collected hot air into the structure interior, or openingvents on the top and bottom of the panel enclosure which allows unheatedair to vent into the house, or to act as a thermal barrier from incidentsunlight, by not trapping heat against the house. In variousembodiments, the collection panel's orientation to the incident angle ofthe sun may be automatically adjusted by the EOS system. Temperature,humidity, sunlight and other sensors located on the exterior of thesolar collection unit, in the interior of the solar unit at the houseinlet vent and in the interior of the poultry house (including ammoniaconcentration sensors) are used by the EOS to control the solarcollection air circulation, panel orientation, vent and vent fancontrols. In various embodiments, the solar collection componentutilizes Transpired Solar Collector (“TSC”) panels for efficient thermalcollection.

In certain embodiments, livestock behavior sensors may be integratedinto the EOS system assist in measuring environment impact on the housedlivestock and dynamically control the system to optimize healthy andproductive conditions. Behavior may be monitored and measured by motionsensors, live video feeds, thermal imaging cameras and digital imageanalysis for motion and livestock patterns known to indicate healthy orunhealthy conditions. Digital analysis of thermal imaging can be used todetermine thermal distribution in the house as well as the body heat anddistribution of livestock in the house. Sound level sensors ormicrophones coupled with digital signal analysis can be used to measurelivestock distress, healthy livestock (poultry chicks making soft“cheeping” sound) and stressful background noises. In certainembodiments large numbers of spatially deployed sensors throughout afacility may be implemented using a technology such as Bluetooth LE.

In certain embodiments, sensor readings from the EOS, including sensorsrelated to measuring livestock behavior and live video, are sent fromthe poultry house to the Internet “cloud” for aggregation into adatabase used for tracking the system performance. The EOS database maybe hosted in the cloud or on a dedicated server. In various embodimentssensors are networked together for a given facility by wireless datatransmission such as Wifi or Zigbee. In various embodiments, data frommultiple sensors is taken as inputs for a controller which utilizes anoptimization strategy to maintain ideal environmental conditions, whichis measured by both the environment metrics known to be optimal and bythe actual livestock behavior and growth metrics. The outputs of thecontroller include the controlled vents and fans. Examples ofoptimization strategies in various embodiments includes fuzzy control,fuzzy logic, decomposition into 2×2 control arrays, genetic algorithms,and multivariate regression. In other embodiments, the system isoperated based on empirically derived and manually set control points,for example where optimization is performed manually by the operator ofthe system based upon observations of the particular livestock beingraised demonstrating the effect of the given environmental conditions.

In certain embodiments, data from the EOS system hosted in an Internetcloud system is available for remote monitoring. The EOS data isutilized to perform the optimization control which is sent back from thesystem to the poultry house ventilation and fan controllers as describedabove. In various embodiments, the EOS performs analytics on theaggregated data from one or more poultry houses, which analyticinformation is available to system operators and livestock productionstaff. Such information may be presented as data log files for thesensors, or graphically and may include one or more environmental,behavior, or production metrics.

In various embodiments, weather prediction data for poultry houselocations available from Internet sources is incorporated into the EOSsystem. This will aid in the predictive control of the poultry housesystems to reduce the effect of rapidly changing ambient weatherconditions on the interior house environment.

In certain embodiments, the EOS system utilizes machine learning toimprove predictive environment control and operation control of thepoultry house systems.

In various embodiments, the transpired solar collector (“TSC”) enclosureis utilized as a solar shade when the exterior ambient temperature ishigh, such that air is vented through the enclosure and the externalwall of the house remains relatively cool.

In various embodiments, hot air from the enclosure may be vented into athermal storage volume, such as an attic of the house during daytime,and then pumped into the house at nighttime to save heating costs atnight. This process is controlled by the EOS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an overview of an exemplary EOS system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the components of an exemplary EOSsystem.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the operation flow forsolar collector panel system control.

FIG. 3A is a chart showing an example use of predictive control forinterior poultry house environment.

FIG. 3B shows 3 diagrams which depict configurations of the solarcollector during various modes of operation.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the operation of dataaggregation from poultry houses and the performance of analytics foradjusting environmental control.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a remote EOS monitor primary userinterface.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a remote EOS video feed user interface.

FIG. 7 shows is an embodiment of a remote EOS analytics monitor forenvironment sensors.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of an embodiment utilizing a thermal storagevolume.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the operation of enclosure venting andheat storage processes controlled by EOS.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an exemplary embodiment, an Environmental Optimization System (“EOS”)provides a system for the intelligent control and monitoring of apoultry house environment and livestock through the utilization of asolar thermal collection system, a variety of environmental sensors,apparatus for controlling the thermal collection and existing interiorheating/air conditioning/ventilation (“HVAC”) systems and Internet or“cloud” based intelligent control and monitoring capability of thesystem.

Other exemplary applications include embodiments in which EOS isutilized for residential and greenhouse or other housed agricultureenvironmental control. Various residential and agricultural embodimentsinclude solar thermal collection components.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of an exemplary embodiment of an EOS system. Inthis embodiment, the controlled environment is the interior of alivestock structure 102, specifically one for raising poultry chicks112. The poultry housing location 101 includes sensor systems 104, adynamic solar thermal collector 103, thermal collector ventilation fans105 and video monitors 106.

The EOS in this embodiment includes capabilities for remote monitoring107 of the system sensors and video 108 by the facility operator 109, aswell as analytics of the environmental conditions, livestock behaviorproduction output 110. Data from the livestock environment 101 by uplinkto the Internet (cloud) 111. Control, access, storage analytics may behosted in the cloud 111 or in an offsite server system 113.

In certain embodiments the solar thermal collector 103 is a fabricatedtranspired solar collector (“TSC”) with EOS control of thermalventilation and the angle of incidence of the solar panel to the sun.The incident angle may be adjusting the elevation angle of a normal tothe solar collection surface by vertical tilt, or by adjusting theradial angle of incidence by rotational adjustments of the solar facingsurface.

An embodiment of EOS control and data monitoring modules is shown inFIG. 2. Data source include on-site sensor systems 207 cloud basedinformation 204, including predictive data 205, such as weatherprediction information from an Internet source such as weather.com.On-site sensor systems 207 include environmental sensors 208 such asinterior and ambient exterior temperature, interior CO₂ concentration,ammonia concentration, relative humidity sound level. Livestock behaviorsensors 209 include motion detectors, video, thermal imaging, audiofiltered for appropriate livestock frequencies, digital video analysisof livestock patterns, motion detection thermal distribution. On-siteproduction sensors 210 in various embodiments may include sensorsmeasuring livestock feed and water consumption, livestock weight and thespeed to weight, or days of production to desired production weight.

The EOS system in various embodiments includes various data collectionand processing aggregation modules 201 206 214. The primary datacollection module 206 receives onsite 207 and offsite inputs 204 andsends output as the system directs, to the control modules 214 and thedata monitor, logging and analytics modules 201. Data monitoringincludes the live video feed, which is provided through the cloud 202along with other logged 203 and live sensor data. Controller outputs aresent from the primary module to the solar collection control module thefacility HVAC control module. The EOS system operates in variousembodiments by an integrated control of the solar thermal collection andventilation and HVAC apparatus, including either forced air or radiantheaters 212, which are on-site at the poultry house livestock facility211.

In various embodiments, a solar thermal collection apparatus is used asa controlled component by the EOS. An embodiment of solar thermalcollection control operation is shown by flow chart in FIG. 3. In theshown embodiment, the collector control is initiated 301, before thecontrol system receives various sensors. In certain embodiments, thesolar collector is used as either a thermal insulator during highambient temperature conditions, or to vent unheated fresh air into thehouse. The EOS controls this by opening collection system vents 314, onthe top and bottom of the collector, when the ambient exteriortemperature is above a threshold value 313. When indicated by the EOS tovent fresh air into the house (such as during high ammonia detection),air bypassing the solar collection panel is vented into the house 315.In certain embodiments, the collection panel may be moved or adjusted304 according to the incident angle of the sun according to date(season), time of day 302 and the location of the house(latitude/longitude) according to data from look-up tables availablethrough the cloud 303. After optimizing the incident angle 304, sensorinformation 306 is received by the system 305, including in variousembodiments, CO₂ concentration, ammonia concentration, interior andexterior temperature, sunlight, relative humidity, interior sound level,thermal distribution livestock distribution and movement. In variousembodiments, weather prediction data 308 for the house location isprovided from cloud based sources, particularly short term temperaturepredictions 307. In various embodiments, a fan in certain embodiments atunnel fan, is used intermittently and a varying speeds, according tothe controller 309 to raise house interior temperature by venting thethermal collection of fresh air into the interior of the house. If thesystem receives input indicating an impending spike drop in ambienttemperature 310, the system may adjust or initiate an early start forthe vent fan 311. The control cycle then completes 312 and is runperiodically according to EOS operation.

FIG. 3A shows a time based 303A graph 301A of the interior and exteriorhouse temperatures 302A and the effectiveness of EOS predictive controlanticipating sudden temperature drops. In this graph, the solid line304A represents exterior ambient temperature. If the EOS receivesprediction data that the ambient temperature is going to have a suddendrop 311A during sunlight hours to a temperature below the ideal range305A, the collector controller closes its upper/lower vents (shown inFIG. 3B) and begins thermal collection early to vent into the houseinterior. Thus, instead of reacting late to the temperature sudden drop310A, the EOS uses early thermal collection to keep the interiortemperature within the ideal range 308A. In various embodiments, the EOSmay make other dynamic predictive adjustments to environment systems toaccount for predicted changes in relative humidity, predicted severeinclement weather, or predictive information from nearby monitored EOSbased facilities.

FIG. 3B shows 3 different configurations demonstrating operation of thesolar collector component in various embodiments. During summer use withrelatively low ambient temperatures 301B, when the sun 307B is at ahigher angle on incidence to the panel 308B, the bottom component of thepanel structure 311B extends away from the house structure. During thisoperation mode, the upper 304B and lower 319B panel vents remain closedfresh air passes through 315B the transpired solar collector 309B. Afoam insulator and mount 306B is used for thermal isolation between thepanel and house exterior wall. During winter operation of the panel302B, the sun 318B is at a lower angle of incidence 317B the bottomcomponent of the panel structure 312B retracts towards the housestructure. During summer operation of the panel with high relativeambient temperature 303B, the upper 305B and lower 310B panel structurevents are opened, allowing fresh air in the upper vent 314B and lowervent 313B to bypass the solar collector, reducing the temperature of airvented into the structure. In various embodiments the EOS is used toadjust vent apparatus for balancing thermal control and measured ammoniaconcentration in the house. In various embodiments, the panel vents maybe hinged vents, butterfly vents, or electric motor controlled vents,among other available options.

In various embodiments, data collection, monitoring analytics provideinformation relevant to the EOS controller and to system operators. InFIG. 4, this process is depicted by a flow chart. After data collectioninitiation 401, sensor information is received from house exteriorsensors 402, which is sent to the EOS monitor user interface 406 to theEOS data archive 407. Similarly, interior sensor data received by theEOS 403 is sent to the archive component 407 and monitor user interface406. Streaming (live) audio and video received by the system is uploadedto EOS 404 and available for the monitor user interface 406.Productivity data for the livestock is provided by sensors to the EOS405 sent to the archive 407 for system aggregation 408. In variousembodiments, the EOS computes analytics, for example trend analysis 408,which is sent to the user interface as requested 410. The collectioncycle is completed 411 and periodically performed according to the EOS.In various embodiments, the EOS provides daily updates for operators tomonitor the improvement in a house's speed to weight, a key measure ofproductivity.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment user interface 501 for EOSmonitoring. Various embodiments contain different layouts and sensorinformation in the interface. In the shown embodiment, streaming videofrom the house 502 is shown along with an array of sensor gauges 503,digital gauges 505 historical (trend) data for relevant sensorinformation 504.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface 601 for EOSstreaming video 602 from the house interior. Also available through theinterface in certain embodiments is an interface for controlling thevideo feed 603 and a gauge showing livestock motion.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface 701 for EOSsensor historical data. In the shown embodiment, (time based) historicaldata is shown for sensor inputs such as external (ambient) temperature702. The user interface also includes capabilities for users to showother analytics, to modify the data trends shown 704 and to manipulatethe chart size 703.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of an embodiment of the system which includes athermal or heat storage volume component. The poultry or residentialhouse is shown 801 with the thermal storage volume in the “attic” 813 ofthe house 801. The components shown here include the solar collectionenclosure 805 which collects solar 814 thermal energy which is collectedby radiation 802 against the transpired solar collector 803. Whenunvented and in direct sunlight, experimental results have shown theenclosure internal air 804 temperature may rise over 80° F. above theambient air temperature. During certain weather conditions and times ofday, the heat accumulated in the collector enclosure may not be neededto heat the house interior. In the shown embodiment, this heat may bevented by a forced air blower fan 806 and directionally controlled 807by a duct 804 into 808 a storage volume 813 809, which in thisembodiment is the attic of the house. During optimal conditionsdetermined by the EOS control system, the stored heat is vented 811 tothe house interior by a forced air blower 810.

In various embodiments, during certain times the house is vacant ofpoultry and the detritus from bottom of the house 813 is either cleanedout manually, or dried out during a clean out period. Experimentalresults show that under certain conditions, sun heated air in the solarenclosures may be 80° F. or more above the ambient air and with an 18%or more reduction in the ambient humidity of the outside air pulledthrough the solar collector. Given the amount of available heat, the EOSmay be utilized in certain embodiments to raise house interiortemperatures to the maximum temperature needed without supplemental fuelusage. Empirical analysis indicates a potential for a 20% to 50% or morereduction in clean out time of the house utilizing EOS controlled TSCsolar enclosures depending on the time of the year and ambienttemperature conditions.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the operation and control of an embodimentwhich includes a heat storage volume. Control of the system in thisembodiment operates as a HVAC cycle 901 with environmental sensors 903inputs and controlled vents and fans. During very warm weatherconditions, the interior of the house may significantly exceed optimalconditions. During such conditions 915 in various embodiments, the EOSmay be used to operate the solar collector as an exterior shade or solarinsulator, by opening upper and lower vents on the collector 916 usingthe fans to push the heated air out of the solar collectors and into theoutside environment. During cooler days, the enclosure is used to heatthe house interior during conditions when the enclosure temperature isabove the house interior 902 until the house reaches the optimaltemperature 904. Under these conditions, the enclosure is vented to theinterior of the house by a forced air fan 909, which is speed modulated911 during the HVAC cycle to minimize electricity used by the fan andreduce the noise output.

Once the house optimal temperature is reached under these conditions904-910 and according to the heat storage temperature 910 the enclosureheat may be diverted into the storage volume 913. Otherwise, theenclosure vents are closed and fan remains off while heat builds up inthe enclosure 912.

When the exterior temperature drops at night and no heat is availablefrom the enclosure 902-905, the stored heat (if hot enough 906) may beused to heat the house interior 908. Otherwise, residual enclosure heatmay be used to build heat in storage, performing in some embodiments athermal insulation effect for the interior.

For various embodiments the system components may be installed incombination with an existing structure HVAC system to minimize energy orfuel necessary to maintain the structure interior environment at optimalenvironmental conditions.

For various embodiments the system components are not directlyintegrated with the HVAC system, but the house ventilation cycle ismodified according to experimental results of the EOS system. Forexample, a common current configuration for poultry housing is for thelarge high volume tunnel fans to be programmed for periodic operation toremove ammonia from the house interior. A typical ventilation system mayoperate the tunnel(s) fan at full speed for perhaps 5 seconds everyminute. In various embodiments, without directly integrating the EOSsystem with the current housing ventilation system, experimental resultswill demonstrate the amount of ammonia reduction provided by the EOSsystem, and the ventilation system may be reprogrammed or adjusted toreduce the ventilation tunnel fan operation for example to 5 secondsevery 5 minutes. Since tunnel fan operation is extremely noisy andcauses near windy conditions inside the house, the operation of the fansis detrimental to the health of the poultry. Hence minimizing theoperation of the fans by the use of various embodiments of the EOSsystem improves the poultry health, reduces ammonia gasses in theinterior environment, and decreases supplemental energy usage.

For various embodiments the system maintains a database of optimalstructure interior temperatures and conditions with associated dates andtimes according to empirically determined optimal conditions during thegrowth life cycle of the livestock in the structure. For variousembodiments the system may be manually reset to restart the growth cycleenvironment control, or may automatically reset according to sensorinput indicating that a new growth cycle of livestock in the structurehas begun.

For various embodiments, the solar collectors components are designedfor modular construction and may be configured with end collector unitsand center collector units such that each system has end units and atleast one center unit, each unit having its own ventilation, fan, andsensor components based on the system needs and are electronically andelectronically interconnected.

The implications of the present invention's numerous potentialconfigurations and embodiments are far reaching. Other embodimentinclude any livestock housing, grow houses for tropical plants,germination, or out of season cultivation, or as an energy saving systemfor human inhabited structures. The economic savings provided by the useof optimized thermal collection are widely applicable and available byonly small changes to presented embodiments.

In the various described and other embodiments, use of a sustainableenergy source provides significant savings in energy, including theenergy usage per production pound of livestock. Additionally, variousembodiments reduce polluting emissions from the facility, including CO₂and ammonia.

Although the invention has been described in terms of the preferred andexemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize manyembodiments not mentioned here by the discussion and drawing of theinvention. Interpretation should not be limited to those embodimentsspecifically described in this specification.

I claim: 1: A system for controlling the heating of a poultry broilerlivestock structure comprising: a control unit comprising a solar panelcontroller and an HVAC controller; at least one interior temperaturesensor located in an interior of the broiler poultry livestockstructure; at least one exterior temperature sensor located in anexterior of the broiler poultry livestock structure; at least one solarthermal collector sized according to a size of the broiler poultrylivestock structure, wherein the broiler poultry livestock structurehouses broiler poultry livestock, wherein the at least one solar thermalcollector comprises a transpired solar collector and an enclosedcollection chamber; at least one controllable vent and at least onecontrollable fan between the at least one solar thermal collector andthe interior of the broiler poultry livestock structure, wherein theoperation of the at least one controllable fans and the at least onecontrollable vent are adjustable; wherein the incident angle of thesolar thermal collector to the sun is modifiable by at least one of: amanufacturer, an installer, the control unit or an operator. wherein thecontrol unit optimizes environmental conditions in the interior of thebroiler poultry livestock structure by controlling the amount of theheated air collected by the at least one solar thermal collector whichis vented into the interior of the broiler poultry livestock structureto provide dynamic adjustments of the interior temperature. 2: Thesystem as in claim 1 further comprising: a plurality of audio sensorsinstalled within the broiler poultry livestock structure. 3: The systemas in claim 1 further comprising: a plurality of audio sensors installedwithin the broiler poultry livestock structure; wherein a plurality ofaudio sensor data captured within the broiler poultry livestockstructure is communicated to a computing device; wherein the computingdevice utilizes digital signal processing to determine stress conditionsof the broiler poultry livestock housed in the broiler poultry livestockstructure based on known or calibrated broiler poultry livestock stresscorrelated audio characteristics; wherein the operation of the at leastone controllable fan and the at least one controllable vent are adjustedaccording to measured broiler poultry stress conditions. 4: The systemas in claim 1 further comprising: at least one ammonia sensor. 5: Thesystem as in claim 1 further comprising: at least one video camera. 6:The system as in claim 1 further comprising: a means for sensing thebehavior of the broiler poultry livestock housed in the broiler poultrylivestock structure. 7: The system as in claim 1 further comprising: acentral server hosting data received from one or more sensor inputs fromthe broiler poultry livestock structure. 8: The system as in claim 1further comprising: a central server hosting data received from one ormore sensor inputs from the broiler poultry livestock structure and datareceived from an environmental control from the broiler poultrylivestock structure. 9: The system as in claim 1 further comprising: acentral server hosting data received from one or more sensor inputs fromthe broiler poultry livestock structure and data received from anenvironmental control from the broiler poultry livestock structure,wherein said data received from the one or more sensor inputs and saiddata received from the environmental control is aggregated over time.10: The system as in claim 1 further comprising: a central serverhosting data received from one or more sensor inputs from the broilerpoultry livestock structure and data received from an environmentalcontrol from the broiler poultry livestock structure, wherein said datareceived from the one or more sensor inputs and said data received fromthe environmental control of the broiler poultry livestock structure isaggregated over time and wherein said environmental control may beoperated by a user remote system 11: The system as in claim 1 furthercomprising: a thermal storage volume; wherein the heated air collectedby the at least one solar thermal collector is directed from the atleast one solar thermal collector to the thermal storage volume andredirected at a later time to the broiler poultry livestock structure bya system controller. 12: The system of claim 1 wherein during periodwhen a measured exterior ambient temperature is above a threshold, theat least one solar thermal collector functions as an exterior insulatorto shade a portion of the broiler poultry livestock structure fromdirect sunlight by absorbing a portion of the heat radiation which wouldhave otherwise been absorbed by the structure; 13: A method forcontrolling the heating and ventilation of a poultry livestock structurecomprising: sensing an exterior structure temperature, an interiorstructure temperature of the broiler poultry livestock structure and aninterior temperature of a solar thermal collector attached to thebroiler poultry livestock structure with sensors, wherein the solarthermal collector comprises a transpired solar collector and an enclosedcollection chamber, wherein the incident angle of the solar thermalcollector to the sun is modifiable by at least one of: a manufacturer,an installer, a solar panel controller, or an operator; controlling oneor more vents and one or more fans for regulating a movement of airbetween the solar thermal collector and the interior of the broilerpoultry livestock structure with an HVAC controller; controlling one ormore vents and one or more fans for regulating a movement of air betweenthe interior of the broiler poultry livestock structure and exterior ofthe broiler poultry livestock structure with the HVAC controller;optimizing a control operation of the one or more vents and the one ormore fans based upon initial system settings which are modified basedupon feedback from the sensors; adjusting the operation of the one ormore fans and the one or more vents with the HVAC controller; whereinthe HVAC controller optimizes environmental conditions in the interiorof the broiler poultry livestock structure by controlling the amount ofheated air collected by the at least one solar thermal collector whichis vented into the interior of the broiler poultry livestock structureto provide dynamic adjustments of the interior temperature. 14: Themethod as in claim 13 wherein during periods when a measured exteriorambient temperature is high, the at least one solar thermal collectorfunctions as an exterior insulator to shade a portion of the broilerpoultry livestock structure from direct sunlight by absorbing a portionof the heat radiation which would have otherwise been absorbed by thestructure. 14: The method as in claim 13: wherein during periods whenlivestock is absent from the broiler poultry livestock structure theaccumulated detritus on the floor of the broiler poultry livestockstructure is dried by a heated air vented from the solar thermalcollector to the interior of the broiler poultry livestock structure.15: The method as in claim 13 further comprising: communicating audiosensor data captured within the broiler poultry livestock structure to acomputing device 16: The method as in claim 13 further comprising:communicating audio sensor data captured within the broiler poultrylivestock structure is to a computing device; wherein a computing deviceutilizes digital signal processing of the audio sensor data to determinestress conditions of the broiler poultry livestock housed in the broilerpoultry livestock structure based on known or calibrated broiler poultrylivestock stress correlated audio characteristics. 17: The method as inclaim 13 further comprising: aggregating data received from the sensorsin the broiler poultry livestock structure over time; providing remoteaccess for users to access data received from the sensors in the broilerpoultry livestock structure. 18: The method as in claim 13 furthercomprising: aggregating data received from the sensors in the broilerpoultry livestock structure over time; providing remote access for usersto access data received from the sensors in the broiler poultrylivestock structure; providing remote control access for users tocontrol the one or more fans and the one or more vents of the broilerpoultry livestock structure; optimizing an environmental control of thebroiler poultry livestock structure by the adjustment of the one or morefans and the one or more vents operation based on feedback of theaggregated data received from the sensors. 19: The method as in claim 13further comprising: receiving weather prediction information from anonline source about the location of the broiler poultry livestockstructure by a central server; adjusting the operation of the one ormore fans and the one or more vents to predictively modify theenvironmental conditions of the broiler poultry livestock structure inadvance of predicted weather events.